Part 1- Two Short Essays
Sufism
In Islam religion, there are three dimensions, and these are the law, theology and spirituality. Therefore, spirituality is used to define Sufism, which is the internal dimension of Islam or the Islamic mysticism. Sufis (Sufism practitioners) are associated with certain doctrines, values, institutions, and ritual practices that symbolizes the principal manifestation and the essential crystallization of the mystical tradition in Islam (Corbin, 2013). The concept of Sufism is crucial to the era of 1000-1600 CE because it played a significant role in establishing the Muslim religion as this period was typically known for its reference to one religion even though there was widespread use of iron tools too. As illustrated by the photo above, individuals are singing and dancing as a form of praising Allah according to the pledge he has with his people. The widespread of Sufi philosophy in Islam led to the rise of Islamic civilization.
Ottoman Empire
Established by Osman 1, the Ottoman Empire began to grow into a strong empire after Sultan Mehmed II conquered Constantinople (currently known as Istanbul) in 1453. And this also made it expand profoundly into Northern Africa, Europe and the Middle East and it reached its climax when it covered the entire region from east to west that is from the Persian Gulf to Algeria and south to north, that is from Yemen to Hungary and some parts of Ukraine. The empire became strong and gained the ability to defeat the other empires because of the extensive use of iron that was significant in the era of 1000 – 1600 CE (Hanioğlu, 2010). As illustrated by the photograph above, the empire equipped itself with weapons and tools made from iron which improved their fighting and ways of life and this gave the empire a very long dominance of about six hundred years. However, the empire started to lose some of its territories from 1699 onwards due to several reasons such as European colonialism, wars that were costly for their defence, revolution by nationalists, and lack of internal progress.
Part II- Longer Essay
Atlantic Trade.
Fig. 1 The Columbian Exchange during the transatlantic trade
Fig. 2 Transatlantic slave trade
The rapid growth in the economy that was experienced in the nineteenth century in Western Europe played a significant role in shaping the world we live in today. The transatlantic trade played a critical role in binding societies of Europe, America and Africa due to the interaction and exchange of goods and services as illustrated in Fig. 1. The era’s rapid growth was facilitated with the slave trade that was rampant at the time because it allowed the British industries to acquire raw materials and in turn, there was an increase in the number of manufactured goods globally. As shown in Fig. 2, the slave trade had become a widely practised business activity in the 1400s and 1500s, and most of these people were black men, women and children from many African countries. This contributed to the slow growth in the continent because most of its energetic members were taken to slavery and their raw products taken from them (Whatley, & Gillezeau, 2011).
Part III – Reflections
Sufism
I have learned a lot from this reading, especially from Sufism as the Sufis are Muslims who practise Islam in the harmony of body and mind. Islam’s body is Sharia, the rule, and Islam’s essence is Sufism, spirituality. Sharia is important for Sufis, as a rule, offers peace in existence and Sufism offers happiness in life. This concept changes the world in that it fosters love and unity among individuals because of the divine love and knowledge they are granted through the personal experience of God (Corbin, 2013). The people who lived in this era (1000 1600 CE) believed in a set of spiritual pathways intended to explore the nature of humanity and God and to promote the perception of the presence of divine love and knowledge in the universe.
Ottoman Empire
Suleiman had risen to the throne as one of the greatest rulers in the country. The Ottoman Empire still held so much of the lands in which Islam was practised, and so much of the Islamic Holy Sites, that Suleiman was widely regarded as the supreme leader of Islam, as well as the rulers of the Muslim world. This implicates that religion played a central role in establishing order in the past, and it can be used in the current world because people’s reasoning has been channelled towards one source (Hanioğlu, 2010). The individuals who lived in this empire during this era utilized the peace and unity that had been established among the citizens of these states.
Transatlantic Trade
The activity was referred to as transatlantic trade because in the 16th to 19th century, it contributed to the global slave trade which fostered the transportation of African slaves, who were about twelve million, across the Atlantic Ocean. The interactions brought both severe and favourable impacts on the parties involved (Africa, Europe and America) because as other countries expanded and grew significantly, other states continued to languish in poverty (Whatley, & Gillezeau, 2011). Slavery is an inhuman and illegal act that all the countries across the globe ought to fight with because of its torturing actions and the suffering experienced by the victims.
References
Corbin, H. (2013). Creative imagination in the Sufism of Ibn’Arabi (Vol. 91). Routledge.
Hanioğlu, M. Ş. (2010). A brief history of the late Ottoman Empire. Princeton University Press.
Whatley, W., & Gillezeau, R. (2011). The impact of the transatlantic slave trade on ethnic stratification in Africa. American Economic Review, 101(3), 571-76.